EVIL
Takaaki Watanabe (渡辺 高章, Watanabe Takaaki), also known as Evil (stylized in all capital letters), is a professional wrestler trained by Animal Hamaguchi. Watanabe has worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) since his debut in 2011, and has also competed in the United States for companies including Ring of Honor (ROH) and Global Force Wrestling (GFW). Professional wrestling career New Japan Pro Wrestling (2011–2013) Watanabe made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) on May 13, 2011, wrestling primarily as a Young Lion and in the lower cards of shows and remained with the promotion until October 2013, when after King of Pro-Wrestling, announced that he was being sent on a learning excursion to the United States. Ring of Honor (2014–2015) At Global Wars '15 the first night May 15 he teamed with Silas Young in a losing effort against Gedo and Moose. The following night May 16, he was defeated by Silas Young. On the June 27 episode of ROH Wrestling, he lost to Adam Page after Colby Corino attacked Watanabe. On the July 4 episode of ROH Wrestling Dalton Castle would defeat Watanabe. On July 23, ROH announced that House of Truth member Donovan Dijak will battle Watanabe in a singles match that will be taped exclusively for ROH's YouTube Wrestling Channel. This occurred July 24 at Death Before Dishonor XIII where Dijak defeated Watanabe. August 22 at Field of Honor (2015), Watanabe qualified for a ROH World Television Championship match by winning a 9-man gauntlet match. September 18 at All Star Extravaganza VII he teamed with Will Ferrara to defeat Donovan Dijak and Greg James. On September 19, Watanabe received his shot at The Television Title facing Jay Lethal but was unsuccessful in his attempt. Return to NJPW (2015–present) On October 12, 2015, Watanabe returned to NJPW at King of Pro-Wrestling, where he was revealed as Tetsuya Naito's associate during his match against Hiroshi Tanahashi. Watanabe's outside interfence in the match was stopped by Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata, leading to Naito suffering a loss. In a post-match interview, Naito gave Watanabe the new name "King of Darkness" Evil. Under the new name, Evil became affiliated with Naito's Los Ingobernables de Japón stable. In December, Evil and Naito won their block in the 2015 World Tag League with a record of five wins and one loss, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 9, Evil and Naito were defeated in the finals by Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. In early March, Evil took part in the 2016 New Japan Cup in which he was eliminated in the first round by Tomohiro Ishii. On March 20, Evil unsuccessfully challenged Ishii for the ROH World Television Championship. Throughout July 18 to August 14, Evil entered the 2016 G1 Climax where he finished his block with four wins and five loses, thus failing to advance. Despite his failure to advance, Evil scored two big wins by defeating IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin and NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata on the last day. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Evil'' (STO) *'With Tetsuya Naito' **'Double-team finishing moves' ***''Out of Control'' (Double-team gorilla press slam) *'Nicknames' **'"King of Darkness"' *'Entrance themes' **'"Black Deeds"' by Yonosuke Kitamura Championships and accomplishments *''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' **PWI ranked him #'229' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016 *''World of Unpredictable Wrestling'' **WUW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) References Category:Wrestlers Category:NJPW Roster Category:Los Ingobernables de Jápon Category:NJPW Dojo